


Wish Earned, Not Granted

by paupotter_4869



Series: The Most Important Thing. . . [12]
Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, First Patrol, Jacksonville, Protective Joel (The Last of Us), and yet somehow they both survive, ellie's so eager, joel's so worried
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28065258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paupotter_4869/pseuds/paupotter_4869
Summary: On Ellie's first patrol, Joel has some concerns. Of course, he cannot talk Ellie out of going on patrol, and instead, he seeks his brother's company to get through the day.
Relationships: Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us), Joel & Tommy (The Last of Us)
Series: The Most Important Thing. . . [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2033674
Kudos: 11





	Wish Earned, Not Granted

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own anything. All credit to Naughty Dogs

_No nightmares today,_ Ellie smiled. Then again, she was so excited and nervous she could barely close her eyes at all. 

As soon as the first shy, weak rays of sunlight hint on the horizon, Ellie jumped out of bed and ran into the shower. She was so restless that she even bothered to make the bed before going downstairs, where her appearance also shocked Joel to the core. 

“What are you doing up?” he demanded, setting aside the clothes he’d been sowing. “This is like two hours before your usual wake up time.” 

“The day calls for it, don’t you think?” 

“Unbelievable,” Joel grumbled, shaking his head. “No one should be as eager a person as you are to go out there and search for Infected.” 

“Well, no one’s as eager as I am to get out of these four walls,” Ellie retorted, vaguely waving around—the house and the town—with her hands. 

Throughout their argument, he led the way to the kitchen and got a couple of bowls out as well as milk and cereals for the two of them. Seeing the look on Ellie’s face, he raised his voice, anticipating all of her complaints. 

“Not a word, missus. This is, after all, your first patrol. You’re not missing the most important meal of the day.” 

With a sour expression, Ellie settled on her chair—she couldn’t make a run for it, there was nowhere to go, what with the town sound asleep still at such an early hour. 

As excited a person as Ellie was, Joel found he felt equally nervous about her patrol. He would never confess so aloud, of course. Ellie wouldn’t forgive him for his lack of trust in her skills. He was sure she could handle herself, he just mistrusted the darkness and dangers lurking freaking everywhere. 

“Now, you’ve gone over the route with Jesse and the head of the patrol, haven’t you?” 

“Only a thousand times the past week,” said Ellie with a roll of eyes. 

Given her tone and body language, Joel was able to read between the lines: discussing the patrols was over and done with. Giving up, they went on with their breakfast, on an unusual routine—Ellie was never up so early in the morning to eat together. 

A little over an hour later, Ellie jumped off her chair. Joel turned his back to wash the dishes, a little bit uncomfortable about such a separation. He'd been out there many times, already. He knew the risks, the dangers dozens of townfolk voluntarily put themselves into in order to keep everybody else safe and sound. It was a necessary duty, one that Ellie was certainly qualified for--no doubts there. Only, Joel couldn't help but fear Ellie's death wish and her permanent thrill-seeking. There were other activities she could partake, here in town, that could grant her that rush of adrenaline. If only she weren't so excited to kill boredom by killing a Bloater.

Peering by the corner of his eye, he watched Ellie take her backpack, check its contents, and then hide her gun pistol inside her trousers. Joel noticed with a mixture of confusion and pride that it was the one Beretta he’d given her so long ago in their journey cross-country. Not only had she kept it all this time, but she also tended to carry it everywhere. 

“Alright, then, I’m leaving.” 

“Now, I hope I don’t have to remind you how big of a deal the opportunity you’ve been given is,” he stated before she went out of the door. 

“It hasn’t just been given to me, Joel—I’ve _earned_ it,” Ellie reminded him in turn. “I proved worthy in front of Jesse and everyone else. It’s just a matter of time before they see I’m better at patrols than all of them put together.” 

“Well, I _had_ missed Mrs. Humility,” sighed Joel. “Come on, I’ll walk you.” 

Joel was only planning to go to Tommy’s, not nurture her all the way to the stables, nor join her patrol, of course. But he does use the extra time to give her some pointers he couldn’t have kept to himself: not to wander off on her own, stick to the planned route, and call for help if she encountered anything out of the ordinary. 

“I will be fine,” Ellie promised not for the first time when they stopped in front of Tommy’s. 

“Of course, you will,” said Joel. “See you later, kiddo. Take care of yourself out there.” 

Ellie walked past him and Joel nodded at her before climbing up the porch steps to Tommy’s place. He knocked and waited until Tommy answered, almost a full minute later, a half-eaten toast hanging between his teeth. 

“The hell are you doing here so early?” he scowled just before letting his brother into the house. 

He informed Joel that Maria had already left for the dam and were alone, which prompted Joel to take off his coat and hang it from a chair, and then he proceeded to help himself to a cup of coffee. Content, he sat on one of the chairs and Tommy joined him soon after. 

Mundane chitchat about town, neighbors, and friends lasted for about ten minutes. At that point, Tommy squinted his eyes at Joel as if he’d just figured something out. 

“It was today, wasn’t it?” he asked. 

Joel grumbled in response, sour mood upon his brother figuring out the true reasons behind his visit. On the other hand, Tommy just chuckled. Day after day, the relationship between his brother and that kid managed to surprise him more and more. Ever since they got back to Jackson and Joel told him everything that had happened—everything he’d done. . . There was no denying he cared about Ellie. Deeply. There were no lengths he wouldn’t go to in order to protect that kid, as he’d already proven. And now, Ellie had gone out there in the dangerous wilderness, on her own volition. Yeah, he could understand why Joel would feel nervous today. 

“She’s going to be fine. We haven’t had any encounters with Infected for a couple of weeks, now, it’ll probably be an easy patrol,” he said, taking his and Joel’s mug to rinse. 

“Yep,” said Joel, unable, perhaps, to elaborate his answer. 

“I promise you—” 

“Stop right there, little brother. You cannot promise me anything concerning Ellie’s safety out there.” 

The vehemence in Joel’s voice startled Tommy just a little bit. He stopped by the sink, dropped the coffee mugs, leaned against the countertop, and stared at his brother over the shoulder. Joel truly was worried. 

“My God. You’re losing it,” Tommy said through clenched teeth. 

His brother turned around to leave, annoyed at Tommy’s remark. He followed hastily and caught up with Joel before he went through the door and shut himself at his place. Tommy knew he couldn’t allow his brother to lock himself up or else he’d snap at and scare everyone off, including him, Maria, or even Alicia, and he wouldn’t get out of the house at all until Ellie returned home safe and sound. 

“I was just going to say that we’re going to the dam, too,” said Tommy before Joel shrugged or bit off the hand on his shoulder. “You need the walk and the distraction. Come on.”

“Tommy. . .” 

“We’ll be back before the patrols are. But no one’s going to stand that foul mood of yours all morning—not even me. Go to your place, grab your stuff, meet me back here in ten.” 

Despite Joel’s initial reluctance and complaints, later in the day, he would confess that his brother was sensible and right. Going out for a ride into the woods instead of staying in town all day, gloomy and barking, was a good idea. Maria and Tommy do manage to distract him by telling all the tidbits about the dam and the crew. 

Back in town later in the day, the two Miller brothers settled down at the canteen with some other neighbors, a warm plate of stew in front of them. The conversation flowed easily, even with Joel’s lack of interest in participating. Instead, he drove Tommy mad by tapping on the table with his fingers or the floor with his feet, counting the seconds and the minutes. 

“There they are,” Jonh announced at some point, waving outside. 

Joel’s head spun around immediately. He saw the group leaving the stables and scattering around throughout town, and examined their faces. They all seemed unscathed and he could not see in their eyes any regret or sorrow upon having suffered a casualty out there today. 

At long last, he saw Ellie amongst the crowd. She sported a broad smile as she talked to her patrol members, a bigger smile Joel had ever seen on her face since they’d landed back in Jackson. From where he was standing, she seemed to be uninjured. If they had run into danger, which Joel will inquire about to make sure Ellie wouldn’t lie to him and downplay the risks of the whole patrol duty, they’d managed to deal with it easily. 

Joel could finally breathe easily, dropping back on the booth. There was no need to go after her, they’d meet soon enough, and Ellie, he was sure, will tell him every detail about her patrol, in a conversation that would last three hours if he let her. All that was left to know now was if the little excursion would set off Ellie’s worst nightmares tonight. 

“Rachel, you were saying?” Joel asked, resuming their conversation. 

Once they made sure Joel was truly calmer, and wouldn’t run off after Ellie within a moment’s notice, Rachel started talking again about her work at the farm.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it ! :)


End file.
